Experimental and numerical study on the mechanical behavior of curved glulam structures

In order to investigate the mechanical behavior of curved glulam structures, five-point bending tests were conducted on three typical glulam structures, i.e., glulam curved beam, arch, and beam string. Different failure modes can be observed in the test results, which changed from brittle tensile failure to ductile compressive failure. A series of three-dimensional finite element models were established and verified to be effective. Theoretical analysis was conducted to illustrate the failure mechanism of different structures. The results indicated that glulam beam string can bring into full play the compressive characteristics of glulam. The bearing capacity of glulam string is 820.47% higher than that of curved glulam beam and 204.14% higher than that of glulam arch.